The love that eternally flows between Father and Son becomes the pattern and source of our communion with God. “I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.” Through Christ, we are drawn into that very fellowship.

A parishioner once introduced me to a friend saying, “This is my pastor—he’s like my dad.” I laughed and said, “That’s kind of you, but I already have kids of my own!”

Relationships differ. I love my wife as a husband, my children as a father, and my congregation as a shepherd—but not all in the same way. Each relationship has its own shape and structure, its own kind of love and commitment. What exists between my wife and me isn’t what exists between my children and me, nor between my parishioners and me.

Having seen who our covenant God is in our last post, we now turn to what that means for us personally: what kind of relationship does this God invite us into?

It’s important for us to speak clearly about our “relationship” with God. What kind of relationship is it? Scripture tells us it’s unlike any other; it’s not casual—it’s covenantal. It’s a relationship that God himself establishes, defines, and secures in love.

The Bible teaches that covenant is the way the infinite Creator relates to us, his finite creatures. Our relationship with God is covenantal, as the Westminster Confession says:

“the distance between God and the creature is so great…they could never have any fruition of Him…but by some voluntary condescension on God’s part which He has been pleased to express by way of covenant” (7.1).

Because God is God and we are his creatures, we owe him obedience and worship. Yet we can only enjoy him as our ultimate blessedness because he has come down to us in covenant love.

A covenant is the formal way God enters into relationship with us. Psalm 25:14 describes it: “The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.” “Friendship” (sod) means intimate companionship. Our relationship with God is deeply personal. Covenant theology is about this reciprocal relationship—God communicates himself and his gifts to us; we respond in love to him. It’s knowing and being known by God (Gal. 4:9). As Jesus’ said, “I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father” (John 10:14).

Knowing and being known describes communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Continuing Covenant Theology 101 let’s explore the essence of our relationship with God.

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